If you can get to Living Word Chapel tonight, Pastor Danquah is going to be continuing his teaching and ministry.  There was a powerful healing anointing last night.  Who knows how the Holy Spirit will move tonight.

John 8:31-32  Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 

Luke 13:10-13  Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath.  And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.”  And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 

Jesus told his disciples, and we, too, are His disciples, that if we abide in His Word, we will know the truth and the truth will make us free.  When we follow His Word we become a disciple in deed (actions). 

People come to church who are not disciples and they mix with the disciples.  But we can tell true disciples for they abide in His Word.

 Know the truth.  The truth is Jesus.

You are supposed to be free, to destroy the works of the devil. Is your life hindered by limitations the devil has put in your path? Are you caught up in wrong thinking or memories that prevent you from being free?

In the passage from Luke (see above), notice that Jesus was in the synagogue. The woman was a believer, a child of Abraham, who was under a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years.  This spirit has bound her.  When Jesus healed her, she was instantly healed. Had she stayed home from the synagogue, she would not have been where Jesus was to receive her healing. 

Limitation:  An intangible barrier that intimidates your inspiration. The devil attacks minds. The devil whispers give it up, it’s too hard, you’re to old, etc. Limitation is an intangible barrier that shuts down your creative process, paralyzes thinking, and causes you to accept your present state as the apex (summit) for you.

It is a spiritual barrier, you may not see it in the physical or realize that it is acting against you.

Sometimes when you wake up you feel heaviness on you, trying to limit you. The Word of the Lord can set you free.

The devil will use any way he can to limit you. It can be sickness, spiritual sickness, marital problems, children, financial, or a combination of these things.

The Lord frees us.  Zechariah 4:6B – “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,”  says the LORD of hosts.  

When limitations are removed, we can soar like eagles.  God delivers His people.

The adversary/opponent sets up intangible barriers.  He opposes every good thing. We can get close to our goal, and sickness arises, troubles come to pull us away from the good things.  He uses all kinds of confusion to stop our progress, marital troubles, mortgage troubles.  Remember the devil is a thief, a liar, a destroyer.  The Son of God sets us free from all the destructive works of the devil – John 8, we shall know the Truth (Jesus) and the Truth shall make us free.

We can destroy our goals by words of our mouth, or we can move toward our goals by the words we speak. 

James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

So, how do we resist the devil?  Revelation tells us.

Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 

The woman in the synagogue was bound no more.  She was in a predicament.  A spirit of infirmity bound her for eighteen years. 

Notice.  Jesus was not teaching in the market place, but in the house of the Lord. The spirit of infirmity cripples what you want to do.

There are many Born Again Christians that are bound by the spirit of infirmity. They do not fully believe that by His stripes we are healed, that Jesus can heal our body, or finances, our soul, our spirit. 

The spirit of infirmity can cause us to miss opportunities.  The Daughter of Abraham (no name given for her) had many limitations because of her bent over shape.  She wouldn’t be allowed to work.  If someone is crippled in our day and age it can restrict the kinds of jobs they receive.  This woman may have been pretty, but no one would have noticed because of her infirmity. She spent eighteen years, the best years of her life in an infirm condition.

God is able to restore marriages. The spirit of divorce is ruining our nation. 

People come to Christ with old problems and issues. But, no matter how big the issue, the Lord is capable of removing it and setting people free.  No matter how long the problem has lasted, God can free us.  The woman was under the spirit of infirmity for eighteen years.

If you are limited, how can your reach your goals?   In the Name of Jesus limitations can be removed. 

God has a plan for our life. The devil hates the church prospering, if you prosper in your finances, the money helps the Kingdom. The devil does not want he Christian to prosper.  But, if we follow the principles of God’s Word we will prosper.  We will be set up by the Lord for promotion.

While the anointing can come on you at any time, when you are in Church and the anointing falls it seeks out your spirit and sets you up for promotion. If you choose to do something other than be at church, you may miss a special anointing on your life. 

The anointing of God changes lives. God will elevate you as you serve His Kingdom. He can cause a paradigm shift in your situation.  Everything can change.  Your outlook can change. Don’t give up. Don’t give in when the enemy sets up limitations, God is stronger than any limitation. The Spirit of the Lord restores you.

Notice the passion of Jesus. Jesus was in the synagogue teaching, and he saw a woman. If she was at home he would not have seen her need spiritually, the reason he saw her need was that she was in the Temple. 

The devil will give us excuses to limit us. 

The Lord desires to give us a miracle. The devil seeks to imprison us, but because of Jesus we are free. We are freed through Jesus – the same yesterday, today and forever.  We are given bread to eat, the bread of Truth. We receive the supernatural power of God. 

The Lord touched her.  We receive touches from the Holy Spirit.  When the Lord touches you, you cannot be the same.

Jesus did not pray for the woman, He just spoke. When Jesus touched her, she was instantly made whole.  She did not have to fast and pray, the healing was instant. God’s grace gives us healing.

While at times we fast and pray for a solution, there are also times that our solution is instant.

When the woman was healed she praised God. 

Jericho’s walls fell at the shout of praise to God. As we shout praise to God the walls of limitation in our lives topple.

I hope this teaching blesses you. I hope you are able to attend tonight.

Heather

Friday Bible Study – April 8, 2011 

Someone asked Pastor Don about John 20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

They wanted to know if we really could determine if someone is forgiven or not.

Pastor Don said that we needed to read the passage in context. This passage occurs after Jesus rose from the dead, and then he came back and commissioned the disciples.

John 20:19-20 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 

The disciples knew that it was the Lord.

John 20:21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

He sends us, and at this point, he establishes the principle of delegation by the power and position of His office. The apostles are the sent ones. Jesus had hundreds of disciples, but when these disciples, in the book of Acts, assemble in the upper room there will only be 120 that show up.

John 20:22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 

The disciples received the Holy Spirit, much the same way as we receive the Holy Spirit when we are saved.  This is different from the Baptism of the Holy Spirit which occurs in Acts.  At this point, the disciples are sealed with the Holy Spirit, but they haven’t received the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to go out and do the work of the Kingdom.

Notice that Jesus breathed on the disciples.  Traditionally, today, when power is conferred we anoint people with oil – not breathe on them.  We are so flesh minded that most do not want to be breathed upon.  

In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit will breathe on them.  

The disciples are being commissioned but haven’t yet had the power given to them that goes with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit

John 20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

Pastor Don said that, as you talk with people, and they repent there are times when you are aware that they are lying.  That they don’t have heartfelt repentance, but may just be repenting because they got caught in an act.  You can detect in your spirit the sincerity of their repentance.  We don’t condemn people to hell, but we can assure someone that they are forgiven if their confession is from the heart.  If not, you may rather choose to show a person what the Bible says on the situation and advise that they need to change their behavior, turn their life around.

Pastor Don gave a scriptural example of this.

Acts 8:4-13  Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.  For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.  But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great,  to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the great power of God.” And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done.

This Simon the sorcerer was baptized and continued with Philip, watching the works of the Spirit through Philip.

Acts 8:14-16 Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 

These people had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, but hadn’t received the infilling of the Holy Spirit with signs following.  They were sealed with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit led them to the Lord, but they hadn’t been empowered by the Holy Spirit, the dunamis power of the Holy Spirit. 

It is possible to be baptized, born again, and still not receive the power of the Holy Spirit.  Being born again is a process. We are brought under the conviction that we know that we need Jesus, and we invite Jesus in.

John 14:16-17 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Jesus prays for the Holy Spirit for his disciples, to dwell in them.  Up until that time, the Spirit dwelt upon one or two, but now the Holy Spirit will be within the believer.

Acts 8:17 Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.  

They laid hands on the people so they could receive the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Don told us that in a way we are under a Germanic sort of Gospel, that implies that there has to be a formula.  

Acts 8:18   And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 

Simon saw.  What did he see?  We can’t see the Holy Spirit, so there had to be an outward manifestation of the Spirit, and the evidence the Bible says is the speaking of tongues.  

Simon shows that he did not fully receive the Gospel in his heart, for when he saw this evidence, he offered to pay.

Acts 8:19-21  saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”  But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!  You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 

Peter judged that Simon’s heart was not right.

Acts 8:22-23  Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.” 

Peter told Simon to repent.

When we receive Jesus, while our Spirit is cleansed, we may still have baggage in our hearts to deal with. 

We may have iniquity – which is purposeful sin.  And with iniquity, when we purposefully decide to sin, knowing that it is sin, we need to repent and it shows that we haven’t fully repented.

Acts 8:24 Then Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me.” 

Repenting means to turn and go in the right direction.  We may not be perfect, and we may fall back into old ways, but our heart has to be towards doing the right thing, and when we fail, get back up, and try again.

Let go and let God. God tells us what to do and so often we don’t.

Job 22:23  If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; you will remove iniquity far from your tents.

Pastor Don then went on to teach on the role of the prophet.  I will put that in the next study.

Hoping your day is blessed.

Heather

 

Bible study taught by Pastor Don Moore on April 1, 2011

Pastor is reviewing foundational truths.  I missed the first part of this study for I was running an errand for Pastor, someone took down the scripture references for me though.

1 Corinthians 1:1-7 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

So spiritually minded no earthly good – pertaining in all spiritual gifts. 

1 Corinthians 1:8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul wants us to be confirmed blameless.

1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

speak the same thing, no divisions.

***

I came back into the room, so now I can share from my notes:

1 Corinthians 1:12-17  Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

The  Church can easily forget that Christ is the Head of the Church. When you get in trouble, then you blame the Church.  Few people are bold enough to say that they were the cause of their trouble.  They want to blame others for their troubles instead of looking at their life and figuring out where they missed the direction of God.

The proof of the error of this passing of the blame is that, once the blame is assessed, is it followed by more error?  Many people blame the church for their problem, then they church hop – leave one church and move to another, and then once they get there, the same problem crops up because they haven’t dealt with the issue within themselves, so they leave that church and go to another. 

Paul is saying that there is contention in the House and it is not a good thing, people in the Church are aligning themselves with personalities, or on the basis of baptism.  Paul is saying that we are all under Christ.  Are we servants to Christ, not to a personality.

1 Corinthians 1:15-17  lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.

Paul knows his role and function in the Kingdom.

Ephesians 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

God gave gifts to men.   People were captive for they had no access to Heaven before the Cross.  Those who died before Jesus was born were held in Abraham’s bosom, either to be punished or blessed based on their life. When Jesus died he went down to hell and preached to them and led those captive to Heaven where the Father is.  Now, since Christ to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. 

Christ gave gifts to men.  He released into the earth the supernatural evidences of who He is , man received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with evidence of tongues, healing, and man was set free.  All of this is done by Jesus’ faith.  He imparted it to the twelve and then the 70 who received gifts, but the Holy Spirit did not come to reside until the Upper Room

Paul is saying in essence that a person of another faith or an atheist can baffle you with words, but once a person gets hit with the Holy Spirit their blind eyes and deaf ears are opened.  The Cross is greater than any other sacred symbol of any religious ideal.

Ephesians 4:9-15  (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?  He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)  And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

Our faith and religion is based on power, not of fancy words.  We have everlasting life.  Life is through Christ, and we are a true disciple of Christ.  Put the things of God first, and your choices second.  It is a personal decision to put God first.  The power of our faith is that we receive the touch and subsequent touching after that.

Luke 16:19-31 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”

Notice that Jesus says, “There was…”  This was not a parable, this really happened.  Jesus names names and it is done in perfect Jewish context.

Abraham’s bosom – when a Jew died and was buried on earth his spirit went somewhere else.  The rich man saw Lazarus from afar off.  There are two places in Abraham’s bosom, a lower place of torment and a higher place of pleasure.  

The holding place was necessary because there were no perfect people.  When Isaiah saw God he said that he was undone because he was a man of unclean lips.  A burning coal was used to purify his lips so that he would be holy enough to stand in the presence of a Holy God.  No one in their natural state can see God.  Moses stood in the cleft of the rock and was only able to see the hinder-most part of God’s glory.

No one can die and be in the presence of the Lord unless the Lord cleanses him and he is made perfect.  There were a few who came close, where God took them – Enoch, Elijah, and Moses.  And two of those will be coming back as the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation.

So there had to be a holding place for those who lived righteous lives and almost kept the laws.

In the end times there will be 144,000 Jews to be pure and undefiled.  God will seal them.

If we are honest we realize that there are times when we had the opportunity to do the holy thing, but chose the unholy.  We need to stay humble. 

Where we have missed it, someone else has succeeded.  

A good example of obedience is Abigail and Nabal, she did the right thing, standing behind her husband who acted foolishly.  She went and served David, to save her husband’s life.  She did the righteous act, and in time her righteousness was rewarded.

1 Corinthians 1:18-20  For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:  “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 

Worldly wise people can act very stupid.  For example, Liz Taylor’s lifestyle.

1 Corinthians 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 

People who are worldly smart do not know God, for they look at the message of God and feel it is foolishness.

1 Corinthians 1:22-25  For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Called – these are picked, made known.  They come to their senses and realize that they need God.  Some take longer to realize that He has called them than others.  How long are you going to let the devil fool you?  When do you stop hitting your thumb with a hammer, realizing that each time you do it it hurts?

God means it when He says He will never leave you or forsake you.  Many are called but few are chosen.  Everyone is given a measure of faith, and they have the choice to make use of it or not, those who choose to believe make use of it and are the chosen, but everyone is given the measure of faith.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

God knows what is in our hearts and minds.  He prepares paths for us, but we choose to stay in those paths or to stray.  Our straying doesn’t take God by surprise, but His path is the best one for us.  If we follow His plan, God arranges good works for us to do.  We have free will and we don’t always listen to God.

Pastor Don says that he follows what he calls, “The Ten Second Rule.”  Before he takes an action he stops and takes ten seconds to listen to what the Spirit has to say.  That prevents a lot of rash mistakes.

God prepares good works for us to do.  The devil runs us ragged doing good works – but they may not be the ones God has specified for us.

When you get up, ask God, “What do you want me to do today?”

Life is much nicer and smoother if we are Spirit led and make smart decisions.  Trust in the wisdom of God.  It may look like God is doing one thing, but He may be doing another thing that we just don’t perceive at this time.  Trust God.

With the seed of faith that God has provided – have you eaten it or sown it?

 

I hope this teaching blesses you.

Heather

This is a transcript of a Sunday Sermon for closed captioning.  Pastor Don taught on this during our weekly Discipleship classes and Bible studies.  It is an important subject for believers to consider, given the recent events.  I am putting it up out of order so it is closer to the events in the news.

What is in [brackets] is what the congregation says.  

SAY AMEN
SHOW 188
DEATH OF WICKED
05/08/11

 

Heavenly Father, Thou art our God, been our God in times past and present, and we know that you’ll continue to be so.  Help us to keep the Covenant.  Let’s keep our eyes on you.  Help us to speak the Word and Truth.  Help it to be understood, in Jesus’ Name we pray.  Amen [amen] 

America’s at a difficult place and a difficult time and that’s because the world is in a difficult place and a difficult time.  But we’re to be in the world, but not [of the world]  of the world.  What I want to say to you now doesn’t make me any less American or any less patriotic.  But there was something that happened last week that disturbed me…

As you know, in order to stay well informed, I listen to a lot of, and watch a lot of different news sources.  I don’t just rely on CNN or FOX.  I look globally at the news and I saw something happen as a result of the death of Osama bin Laden, that bothered me.  For a minute it took my peace away. 

Being a person that watches the international news, when something happens in the Middle East, and the Middle Eastern people wreak vengeance or violence upon an Israeli or an American, they take to the streets.  And when they get to the streets there is a spirit of jubilation.  Some years ago, they took an Israeli soldier, they killed him, they threw him from a third story window and the people went to the streets to express jubilance that this man had died.  On the day, or the night of the jets exploding into the Twin Towers, the Arab world went into a spasm of jubilance.  The fact that so many Americans were taken out in one shot. 

What bothered me was that, when I turned on the television two weeks ago, when Osama got hit, I saw the same jubilance being expressed by Americans that this man was gone.  I’m not here to judge him.  I believe God has already judged him for his part in the murders and the evil that he did.  I’m not here, right now, to console those who lost friends or family…  I feel that there should be, properly, a sense of justice.  That justice was done and carried out. 

But I asked myself, as I watched this, what would be the proper response of a person of God to this circumstance?  Would jubilance be the right word and describing the right emotion?  I’m not saying with these words that I’m expressing here, that there was anything of great value about the man.  I’m sure his children loved him and his wives loved him, and so forth and so on.  I’m not concerned with that.  I’m concerned with the heart of America and how we should express.  Should we look like them when something bad happens to our enemy? 

What would God do?  Remember the WWJD?  I kind of went to that.  I says, if Jesus was sitting next to me watching this, what would He say about it?  And so, just right now, I want to ask you to let yourself answer the question from Scripture.  As you know me, I’m a Scripture guy.  [amen]  You know.  I believe that if I have a great revelation, I should find it in Scripture.  [amen]  So, let’s look for this revelation in Scripture.  What does God say about His emotional response, listen to me carefully, when wickedness dies. [hmmmm]  Or when an evil person dies?  What does God do?  What does God say is the parameters of His emotional response to it? 

Now some of you were at Discipleship or at Bible Study when I discussed this, so, you’ve had time to think about it.  To think if I’m leading you to look in the right place.  But my job is to have you not look like the world. [yes]  My job is to say you need to look like God.[yes, amen]  You need to be God to your friends, your family, your neighbors. You need to be God to the people around you.  [amen] 

And so, I asked God and Ezekiel is the place that we found the answer.  … In the eighteenth chapter of the book of Ezekiel God is talking about how He feels about people and iniquity.  He’s talking about people that have sinned, wickedness and wicked people and how He feels about them.  And so, He says in verse 21.  “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.“ 

In other words, death is decreed, and He’s talking about not just physical death, He’s talking about spiritual death.  Spiritual death is living the rest of your eternity separated from God.  Physical death is the cessation of life. 

So in verse 22 He goes, “None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him;…” 

In other words, God remembers the things that we have done that were transgressions that we did against God.  God remembers them.  And therefore, it tells us that He is a judge. 

And He says, “…because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.” 

In other words, the evil that you’ve done, unless God eradicates it, it’ll live on beyond the cessation of your physical life.  Lord have mercy, I’m trying to preach here now.  You getting this? [amen] You have the cessation of your physical life, [that's right]  but, God’s memory, watch this now, God’s memory is a memory of the eternal.  [that's right]  Not the momentary.  And He says, your transgressions can then live on in the memory of God, since God is eternal, unless they are what?  Confessed and eradicated.  But if they are not, they will be remembered by God.  And God is an eternal God.  Amen?  [amen] 

We get the answer to our dilemma in the next verse, in verse 23.  “Do I have any pleasure at all… Do I have any pleasure at all…” 

In other words, God, He’s asking the question, He says, “Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? says the Lord GOD,…” …

Well then, you have to ask the question.  Well, God, if you don’t get pleasue when the wicked die, what are you concerned about?  He tells us right there.  “...that he should turn from his ways and live?“  

Hallelujah.  [amen]  God’s not going to get any pleasure from the fact that a wicked person has died.  [amen]  God’s not happy about that.  He is saying, what makes Me happy is that before the wicked person dies, he changes his ways.  [right, come on!  yeah!]  He gets, he gets an understanding of the evil life that he has lived, and before he dies, … Now why would God be concerned about that?  If there is no Heaven to be gained and no hell to be shunned, why would He care? 

But it just so happens that the eternal memory of God is gonna remember our wickedness and therefore he is going to judge us and hold us accountable for it, and if it isn’t eradicated, then we’re gonna have to reap the just punishment of a wicked, unholy life.  And He is saying, I’d much rather see ya live and turn from your wicked way, before you die, cause if you have to die in your wickedness, I’m gonna have to remember it and hold you accountable for it.  [amen] …

Now, I thought to myself, are there any other verses here. We got verse 23, but it says, out of the Word of God, it says, let every word be established from two or three places.  [right]  Is there another, or any other sentiment that tells us that the way we do is not the way that God would do? 

Verse 25 tells us, that the way we do is not the way God would do.  “Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not fair.”  Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair,..” 

In other words, the way that God does things is fair, and then He says, “…and your ways which are not fair?“ 

In other words, when I’m watching television, and someone in the Middle East has killed someone, and they have jubilation, stay with me now.  They are jubilant about the fact that this person is dead, but my spirit doesn’t have a sense that that jubilation is what God feels.  [right]  Come on, somebody.  Anybody here?  [amen] 

You know, don’t be so political that you can’t hear what’s spiritual.  Ah, Lord have mercy.  I don’t know who that was for Nick, but I put it out there.  But don’t be so political that you can’t hear what’s spiritual.  What’s spiritual is, God kills a lot of people that need to be dead.  God lets ‘em die or He takes them out.  But guess what?  We don’t have any Scripture where it says after God takes ‘em out there’s jubilance.  We don’t have any Scripture, that when Goliath dies, up in Heaven, God declared a holiday and everybody’s jumping up, so happy, that an evil Goliath died.  Anybody with me?   [yes] 

That’s gonna get complicated if you don’t keep it simple.  Keep it simple.  [amen]  I’m talkin’ about what does God do when wicked people die.  That’s what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about what is the emotional response from Heaven when wicked people die.  So far, we see that God gets excited and pleased when people turn from their wickedness, so that He, God does not have to remember them.  [amen] 

Not being able to remember something is a spiritual gift. [yes, hallelujah]  because you fleshy, you’re human, [yes].  You tell people, well, I’ll forgive you, [ha]  and then you’ll go, and I’ll forget it.  Well, the reality is, you can forgive ‘em but you won’t be able to forget it.  Why?  Because you’re fleshy.  [yes]  You can only, watch this now, I’m helping somebody.  You can only re-define the experience. … [well, come on Pastor, right, praise Jesus]  Sister Joy got that because she’s a counselor.  You can’t help them forget it, but you can help them re-define it. 

See, some of you are still suffering from events in your life that happened ten, twenty, thirty, forty years ago.  Some of you all look old, so I’ll say fifty years ago, too.  [laughter]  So I said, God’s ways are not quite our ways.  [all right now]  God’s ways are not quite our ways.  And I want to help you with that.  Because we’ve heard that so long that we’ve taken it out of its setting and its context.  So, hold your place here, and let’s see if we can find that in Isaiah 55. …

Now, for all you Baptist people watching by television, I want to apologize to you beforehand.  Cause I’m about to butcher one of your sacred cows.  [oh, my, Isaiah what?]  Isaiah 55  [amen] … Isaiah 55.  Cause I grew up in, you know, Deacon Jones’d get up and do the morning prayers.  “Father God, I want to thank you Lord, for our ways are not Your ways.” [laughter]  “And Your ways our not our ways.  And I’m on my way to get my way, but I need to be doing it Your way. Cause Your way’s the right way, and from now on, I’m eating pizza with the pepperoni.”  [laughter]  … And he’d be spittin’ and sweatin’, you know. 

You know, when a guy comes to the altar with a towel, [laughter]  you know what he plans to do.  You might as well go to the bathroom and come back because he’ll still be doing what he’s gonna do, cause he’s got a towel.  You know.  Somebody asked me, why has he got that towel?  I says, cause he’s plannin’, he’s plannin’ to sweat and talk a long time.  [laughter]  He’s got his prop all ready.  I said, leave him alone. 

See, now I’m concerned about what happens between your ears and between your rib cages.  I’m concerned about your heart.  [amen]  You know, so I’m old enough now that I don’t have to perform, unless I go, unless I go somewhere that the only way I’m gonna reach these people is emotions.  I gotta turn, you know, the emotional thing.  You know what I’m saying?  [yes]  Does anybody know what I’m talking about?  [yes]  Yeah, and then you have to get people emotionally worked up, then you can get them to hear the message.  But I ain’t into that no more.  Darrell, you hear what I’m saying?  [yes]  You’re young enough that you’re gonna have to learn that.  You’ll have to sense what the Spirit is saying when you walk in, are these people, I have to quote a lot of Scripture and huff and puff, to get them worked up emotionally?  You know.  And then, you have to be concerned about that.  All right? 

And, in the Baptist Church, this passage of Scripture is used all the time.  “Your thoughts are not my thoughts, and my thoughts are not your thoughts, says the Lord.“  Whatever, whatever.  And I always thought, is that true?  So, I’m reading this passage and I said, verse 8.  Verse 8.  Verse 8.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” 

So I said, well, who is God talking to here?  [come on pastor].  I go, who’s God talking to that He says that?  Look at verse 3, I’m sorry, verse 2, I’m sorry, verse 1.  [laughter]  “Ho!  Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat.  Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.  Incline your ear, and come to Me.  Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you--”…

Now, who’s He talking to?  He’s talking to people that will enter into a lasting Covenant with God.  Is that right?   [yes]  Is that right?  [yes]  He’s saying, all you all that want a lasting Covenant, what kind of Covenant?  “The sure mercies of David.“  So he wants all you that are listening, enter into a Covenant with Me according to the mercy I showed David.  I’ll enter into the same Covenant with you that I entered in with David.  [amen]  Everybody got that?  [yes] 

“Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the people.“

Say, “I’m a leader.”  [I'm a leader.]  “I’m a commander.”  [I'm a commander.] 

He says, “Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you,…” 

Say it, “Nations run to me.”  [nations run to me]  You say, well Pastor, what nations run to me?  Well what do you mean?  On your block there’s an Irish guy from Ireland.  On your block there’s an Italian guy from Italy.  On your block there’s a Puerto Rican guy from Puerto Rico.  On your block is a Jamaican guy from Jamaica.  And guess what?  If they don’t know the Gospel, who are they gonna come to?  [you] 

What if they don’t know what to do?  Whole bunch of people praying in Oklahoma that never prayed before.  Whole bunch of people in Arkansas praying that never prayed before.  [yes]  Whole bunch of people in Alabama that never prayed before, they’re praying before.  Been in church all their lives, but never put themselves on the floor and reached up to a Heavenly God and said, “What am I going to do now?  My house is gone, my car is gone.  I have nothing. What do I have?”  And they’ll hear the voice of the Shepherd saying, “You have Me, son.”  [yes, yes Lord]  … “You have Me.  And since you called on Me, guess what?  I’ll give you another house.  I’ll give you another car.  But this time, when you go to church, be sincere about it, cause it matters.”  [amen]  God’ll let everything  be taken away from you till you realize the source from whence it all came.  [amen]  Give Him glory, honor, and praise and then give Him His portion of it and then He’ll take care of you.  [amen] 

Was down there at Katrina, you all don’t remember, you all sent me down there.  I went down after Katrina, and the waitress was waiting on our table.  I learned something.  The people are the story.  [yes]  The people are the story.  And I said, “Excuse me, baby.”  I said, “Tell me your story.”  She said, “What do you mean?”  I said, “Tell me your story, your Katrina story.  Everybody’s got a story.  Tell me your story.”  She looked around to see if her boss was watching, she says, “I’m going to go get your water and your bread, and I’ll be back.”  She went and got the water and the bread and came back.  And she says, “My story is a story of how God looks out for His children.”  [hallelujah]  She says, “I almost feel guilty about it.”  I said, “Why, what do you mean?”  She said, “Everybody lost their house in my block but me.”  [hallelujah]  What are you talking about?  Our God is God.  [Amen.]  We need to serve Him.  [yes, amen]  I said, we need to serve Him.  [yes] 

The bell hop, the bell hop is a 45 year old man, is taking our bags upstairs.   I said, “Tell me your story.”   He looked down the hallway, nobody was here, he backed in and closed the door.  He says, he says, “You all Christian?”  I said, “Yeah, we’re Christian, we believe in the Lord.”  He said, “My story is amazing.  He says, I left work here, the day of Katrina.”  He said, “It took extra long time to go home.  By the time I got home, the thing had broke and the place was flooded.  The place was flooded and going crazy.”  He says, “But, I figured I’d better go back, go to work, go back to the Sheridan.”  He went back to the Sheridan and they sent everybody home.  He looked in the lobby and there was a little Jewish couple standing in the lobby.  He said, “Why are you all standing in the lobby?”   “We live in Chicago.  They cancelled our flights, they cancelled our bus, the hotel is closing and everybody’s got to leave.  We got nowhere to go.” 

He said, “Come with me.  Get in my car.  You come home with me.”  He took that little Jewish couple home with him.  Right.  They’re in there.  They’ve got nothing but candlelight.  And he can hear, he can hear the thugs and the hoodlums breaking into every house.  And robbing and stealing from the people.  He said, “I know you guys are Jewish, I’m a Christian, whatever.”  He says, “I’m going to put a candle in the light and I’m going to pray.  And the Lord’s going to protect us and protect my house.”  [amen]  That’s pretty good for a bell hop.  [amen]  Pretty good for a bell hop.  Him and those Jewish people got down on their knees and prayed to God.  The flood waters came and receded.  Nothing came in his house.  The mob came by and bashed in the windows and the doors and robbed every house in his block but his house.  [all right!  amen]  And he took those Jewish people and drove them to Alabama, and put ‘em on a bus headed for Chicago, safe and sound.  [whew, amen, applause] 

What I want to say to you is, this passage of Scripture does not apply to you, oh Child of God.  [hallelujah] 

God is speaking, in verse 5, He is speaking and He says, “…because of the LORD your God, and the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”  In other words, God’s plan, because you entered into a Covenant, the Covenant of David, God plans to glorify you.  [amen]  That means He plans to show you favor.  He plans, in the moment of difficulty in time, to come to your rescue so that He can get some praise and honor from it, and then you can go from glory to glory.  You can go from adventure to adventure.  You can go from victory to greater victory.  You can go from safety to peace.  You can go through conquering and after that conquer some more. Because why?   God has chosen you.  He has picked you.  He has favored you in the same way that a mother loves her child, the Father loves you that way and more.  And He’s going to bring glory to your house. 

You’ve gotta start believing it.  You’ve gotta start knowing it.  You’ve gotta start telling people around you, I may not be perfect, but I’m a child of God.  And He’s looking out for me.  [cheering]  He’s looking out for me.  [applause]  And they’ll say, “What do you mean?”  And he’ll say, “Oh, everything’s going down, but guess what?  I’m going up.”  [cheering]  Glory to His Holy Name.  [applause] 

Look what it says in verse 6.  “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” 

Then in verse 7 He’s going to change the conversation.  You all ready?  [yes]  He tells us something.  “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower,..”  

Lord have mercy, I’m sowing some seed right now.  “…and bread to the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.“ 

Then He changes His conversation, now.  Gets back to us.  And He says, “For you shall go out with joy,…”  Oh, my Lord.  [come on]  “You shall go out with joy,…” 

Who’s He talking to?  The wicked?  No.  He just changed from talking about the wicked, He’s talking about the righteous.  And He shall “…be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;  and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.“ 

I like to add there at that point, says the Lord.  [yes]  I like to add, says the Lord.  Well, what’s He saying?  He’s saying, guess what?  The righteous think like me.  [amen]  The unrighteous, they don’t think like me. 

And I thought, I studied that thing, I said, why Lord?  And He says, because, when you have, when you come to the Lord Jesus Christ, and you have the Spirit of the Lord dwelling in you, you have My Word dwelling in you.  And when I speak on the inside of you, guess what?  My thoughts are your thoughts.  Your thoughts are my thoughts.  [yea]  Somebody praise Him in here.  [applause]  Glory to God.  …

(blows nose into handkerchief) This ain’t a prop. You want to come up here and see?  [laughter]  … Don’t worry, I’m gonna grow up some day.  [amen]  [don't grow up]  Don’t grow up, right, stay a kid, right?  No, no, I have to grow up, and become old and boring like the rest of the people my age.  But I’m thinking of not doing it, though. 

It says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found,…”  verse six, in verse 7, “Let the wicked forsake his way,”… the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts.  Well, why does God want the unrighteous man to forsake his thoughts?  Because he’s wicked, and his thoughts are wicked.  He wants you to get born again, filled with the Spirit, so that you get some God ideas going. 

Your problem is you need some discernment to know when God, when you’re thinking God’s thought and when you’re thinking flesh thoughts.  You need some discernment to know when your ego is talking and your pride is talking.  To know when the Holy Spirit is talking.  When the Holy Spirit says, call so and so, and you go, I ain’t calling them, guess what?  That probably was a Jesus moment.  [amen]  And you missed it.

These are notes from a Friday Bible study of 3/25/11  This was one of those delightful studies where Pastor Don responded to questions from us and answered them with his incredible knowledge of the Bible.  I love these studies, and hope that when you are in our area that you consider attending on Friday – 12:30 is a pot luck lunch and Bible study begins around 1:00,  great fellowship and great food – physical and spiritual.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

If someone knows the truth and suppresses it, or sees the truth and pushes it down or out of the realm of their mind, it is in unrighteousness.

Romans 1:19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

Verse 19 shows why it has to be suppressed.  There will be no atheists in Hell or Heaven.  People will no longer be able to fool themselves.

It is logical that if you see an effect, their has to be a cause.  

One example of how truth can be suppressed is in how Bible translators translate certain words in the Scriptures.

John 1:1-5  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:1 and Genesis 1:1 begin with the spoken Word and we see that Jesus is the Word.

John 1:10-12  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Notice the word “right”  - in Greek it is “exousia” – right, privilege, authority.  Exousia means authority, and what happened is that whether the Greek Word was “exousia”  or “dunamis” which means dynamite, miraculous faculties, signs and wonders, the ones who translated the Bible put the word – “authority or right”.  By this one error, irreparable damage has been done to the Body of Christ.

Yet, when people receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the translations say that believers have authority, but the word that they translated as “authority” is really dunamis, and implies dynamite power.

Acts 1:5-8 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

The Holy Spirit brings you under condemnation so that you realize your need to be Born Again.  But being Born Again and having the Holy Spirit within is not the same thing as being Baptized by the Holy Spirit which gives power.  Many believers believe that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and being Born Again are the same thing, but the Bible shows that they are separate events, and can occur in any order.  Sometimes people are Born Again and later Baptized in the Holy Spirit, other times the Baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs first.

God knew that the enemy was going to increase in power as the end times draws near and He does not want to leave us without powerful tools to fight the enemy, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit gives us the power to battle the enemy.  There are some believers that think that all the Baptism of the Holy Spirit does is allow a person to speak in tongues, but really God wants us to apply the dunamis, dynamite power of the Holy Spirit to grow to the next level, and in these end days the need for miracles is going to increase.

We can’t allow our religion and traditions to keep us out of supernatural obedience.  Obedience is important.

In our lives we have Jesus appointment times.  We want to do what Jesus wants us to do when He wants us to do it and how He wants us to do it.

God can use what we think are obstacles to reach Him, to help us push our minds and egos aside so that we are able to do the supernatural work that the Holy Spirit wants us to do.  Sometimes what the Holy Spirit asks us to do does not make sense to our natural minds, but it is what is necessary to reach another for Christ.  

People willing to be obedient to God can profoundly impact His Kingdom.  We want to be yielded to God and the Holy Spirit.  If you don’t yield yourself, you limit the amount that Christ can work through you. How are we going to be the book of Acts of we don’t experience the book of Acts?

In Chapter one of the book of Acts none of the Apostles knew what was going to happen.

Luke 24:44-46  Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,

It is possible to read the Scriptures without comprehension.  But the Holy Spirit can open our understanding.

Luke 24:47-49 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.  Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

The Promise of the Father was the Holy Spirit, but they did not know that in Acts 1, they just knew that they were to wait in Jerusalem, to receive the power from on high, but they did not know anything about the power at the time. 

We need to understand about the power of the Holy Spirit and tongues so that we can learn to teach it the right way to people so that they can understand the truth.

1 Corinthians 14:2  For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.

Do you believe by faith?  When you speak in tongues, you are not speaking to men, but are speaking mysteries to God. We may not know what we are saying but God does, it is God’s cleaver way of getting our logical mind out of the way so we can hear from Him.

When we pray, we need to at times be silent, so we can learn to listen and hear what the Spirit says.  Only when we can shut-up our mind can we open it to hear, and tongues is one way to turn off our thinking processes.

1 Corinthians 14:4  He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 

To be a spiritual giant we need to build our spirit up, and speaking in tongues edifies, builds us up, so we want to pray in tongues.  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  When we prophesy, we edify the church, for we are speaking forth the Word of God.  There are more than one kind of tongues, there are tongues for building yourself up and tongues that speak forth the Word of God to others.

1 Corinthians 14:5  I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.

Everybody can speak in tongues.  Scientists have done research and proven that when a person speaks in tongues it activates parts of the brain that nothing else touches.  Paul wanted everyone to speak in tongues, but there are rules.  When he wrote to the Corinthians they were out of order, speaking in tongues all the time, even when there were new people in their churches.  That led to confusion.  So Paul is going to set out guidelines, for his goal was to make sure all who attended were edified, not just those who spoke in tongues.

He will teach them that if you are in the assembly, you are not to speak in tongues unless there is someone to interpret and the message is for the whole Body of Christ.  If you want to speak to God in tongues in private, that is good, but not all tongues are meant for the general assembly.  With the prophetic gift of tongues, there needs to be an interpretation, and the interpretation needs to be a message that edifies the whole church.  Paul was all about making sure all people got the full message of the Gospel and that services were in order.

1 Corinthians 14:11-12 Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me. Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. 

When the church comes together, if they all speak in tongues, those who are new or unbelievers will not get blessed.

Romans 8:26-27  Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 

The Holy Spirit can help us to pray when we do not know what to pray.

1 Corinthians 14:13  Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. 

We can ask God to interpret for us what we are praying in tongues.  Whether we know or not, our prayers could be God using us to provide a blessing for someone, somewhere in the world – where God seeks a willing person to pray.  Everyone who speaks in tongues does not have the gift of interpretation.  Those who are in the five-fold ministry are there to edify the church.  

1 Corinthians 14:14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.

Our spirits are edified with tongues and our spirit prays, but we may not understand what is being prayed.  Do we want to just rely on the understanding of our pea brain or do we want to listen to the mind of Christ?

1 Corinthians 14:15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. 

Paul says He will do both, depending on what is in order.  Pastor Don pointed out that we often sing in tongues.  He asked us if we started singing a song and we forget a line or two, don’t we go da, de, dah, dum, dum, de  to fill in the words we don’t remember?  That is similar to tongues. We don’t know what to pray, so we pray in tongues, our mind permits the seemingly nonsense syllables to come out and those words God knows what we pray.

1 Corinthians 14:16-17  Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.

We want to make sure all in the Body of Christ are edified, so pray in tongues in an appropriate way.

1 Corinthians 14:18-19  I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all;  yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Paul follows the rules, but still he prayed in tongues lots – more than the Corinthians, but when it came to making sure someone understood the truth of the Gospel, he used common language to get the message across rather than thousands of words in tongues which would not edify.

1 Corinthians 14:20-21  Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature. In the law it is written:  “With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; and yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,” says the Lord.

God uses tongues as a sign to people.

1 Corinthians 14:22 Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. 

Tongues are a sign to non-believers, when tongues and interpretation are used, it can pierce the wall of unbelief and cause unbelievers to come to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 14:23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 

Pastor Don spoke of visiting a church once where everyone spoke in tongues, there was no message from the pulpit to explain to a visitor what was going on, and no one came up to Pastor Don and his wife – who at that time did not speak in tongues – to show them where it is Biblical.  So they left the meeting, and the people were so caught up in their tongue speaking that they never noticed Pastor and Cynthia leaving.

Pastor Don told us there is a reason that Chapter 14 comes after Chapter 13 in Corinthians.  Chapter 13 is the Love Chapter, and we need to use the speaking of tongues in Love.  We can’t just be edifying ourselves and ignoring unbelievers, that would not be walking in love.

1 Corinthians 14:27-28 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. 

It doesn’t say don’t speak in tongues.  It just says to avoid confusion if one has a tongue, then there should be an interpretation for it.  If no interpreter, then speak quietly under your breath in tongues for your personal edification.  Not every tongue is for the whole congregation, some are for personal edification.  

1 Corinthians 14:29-32 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.  But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

Paul was all about everything being done in order.  It is important to realize that the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.  What that means is that we are in full control of tongues, and we can stop speaking them when we want – there is no, the tongues have taken over me.  We start speaking in tongues, and as we speak there comes a point where the Spirit takes over, but at ANY TIME we need to, we can stop, we are not possessed and out of control.  If someone is, that is not of God.  By the way, Pastor also pointed out that as a musician he spent a lot of time playing in bars and never in a bar situation did he come across a drunk speaking in tongues, so the argument that it is of the devil does not make sense.  If it was, wouldn’t those who are drunk be speaking in tongues?

1 Corinthians 14:33  For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 

God is order, not confusion.

1 Corinthians 14:39-40  Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.

Pastor had Baptist roots which forbade speaking in tongues, when he first spoke in tongues he was afraid he was committing a sin.  He went to the bathroom, covered his mouth and prayed, God if this is not of you take it away.  If it is of you, show me in Your Word so that I understand.  God showed him the truth in the Word.

Not only did Paul speak of tongues – out of the mouths of two or more witnesses

Jude 20  But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

You build yourself up by praying in the Spirit, acquiring more strength and power to do His will.

The ultimate question is, do we trust Jesus to work through us through the power of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit?

I hope this edifies you and blesses you.  It was a good reminder for me of where to go and how to explain tongues to others.

Heather